SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah junior point guard Shona Thorburn had a rare double-double and junior forward Kim Smith scored a season-high, leading the Utes to an 88-66 victory over Utah Valley State Thursday night at the Huntsman Center. Thorburn tallied a career-high 11 assists and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds. She was one point short of a triple-double, tacking on nine points. Smith scored 22 points in the contest to lead all scorers.

"Shona did a great job distributing the ball tonight," Utah head coach Elaine Elliott said. "We finished better tonight than we have in the past and that really helped our team get the win."

Thorburn said starting strong was the key to her performance.

"I wanted to come out aggressive, because in the past I've always been a slow starter," Thorburn said. "I'm really trying to dish the ball and get my teammates open. I'm also really trying to be aggressive on the boards."

Utah (4-2) led by as many as 14 points in the first half and took a 42-29 advantage into the intermission. But Utah Valley State (1-6) took advantage of cold shooting from the Utes to close the gap early in the second half. Utah was just two-of-10 from the field in the first five minutes of the second period. Meanwhile, the Wolverines put together a 14-4 run to pull within three, 46-43. UVSC's Miriam Palkki hit three of her four three-pointers during the outburst.

Utah sophomore forward Shauna Brouillard slowed the Wolverines' momentum with a traditional three-point play, pushing Utah's lead back to six, 49-43. The Utes pushed their edge to 11 points with 11:35 left to play. However, Utah Valley State got a jumper by Lynn Courtney and a three-pointer from Rebekah Fales and pulled within six, midway through the second half. But that's as close as the Wolverines would get.

A Kim Smith three-point play kept UVSC from putting together another big run and gave Utah a nine-point lead, 61-52. Smith's bucket and free throw sparked a 17-5 Ute outburst over the next five minutes, effectively putting the game on ice. Sophomore forward Heidi Carlsen and Smith each hit three-pointers during that span. The lead increased to as many as 23 points late in the game when senior guard Lana Sitterud hit Utah's 10th three-pointer of the contest. The Utes cruised to the 22-point win from there.

Utah's .469 field-goal percentage was its highest of the season. The 88 points scored were the most by a Utah squad since an 88-64 win over Gonzaga on Dec. 4, 2003.

Three other Utes scored in double figures. Freshman center Deanne Hanchett tallied 13 points, while Carlsen recorded 12 and Sitterud tacked on 11. Utah Valley State was paced by 16 points from Kaydee Allred, while three other Wolverines were in double digits.